If you are a fan of the classic board game but have forgotten how to play Cluedo game I have written a brief summary of the game rules. Cluedo also known as Clue is a mystery detective game normally for 2 to 6 people to play. It is suitable for 8 year olds and up. The rules are simple and it only takes about 5 minutes to set up. This is a turn based dice game. But this doesn’t mean this is a game of luck, as it does require skills of deduction and elimination plus a certain amount of deception like poker. This makes it enjoyable for both children and adults.
How to Play Cluedo
Classic Clue starts with the murder of a Mr. Boddy at his Tudor Mansion. The aim of the game is to work out which room, with which weapon and by who the murder was committed. The variables involved in the investigation are the 9 rooms of the Tudor mansion, the 6 occupants of the house at the time the crime occurred and 6 possible weapons found around the house. To set up the Cluedo board game the cards are separated into the variables i.e. rooms, suspects and weapons. The cards are shuffled and without looking at them, one card from each of these 3 piles is selected at random and placed in the envelope. The aim is now for everyone to be the first to work out by elimination exactly what those 3 cards are. The rest of the cards are shuffled together and dealt out between the players. You also each get a detective notebook which is a checklist of all the cards. You have to tick off the cards you have in your hand. Next place the 6 weapons in the following places:
Dagger in the lounge Rope in the ballroom Lead Piping in the conservatory Candlestick in the dining room Revolver in the study Spanner/Wrench in the kitchen The other 3 of the 9 rooms of the board are: Hall, Billiard Room and Library. Then place the colored pieces to represent the 6 suspects on their corresponding color spots on the board. You play which ever character piece is nearest to you. The 6 characters or suspects and colors are normally:
Red for Miss Scarlet
White for Mrs White
Yellow for Colonel Mustard
Green for Reverend Green
Purple for Professor Plum
And Blue for Mrs Peacock
Now to play Cluedo game all the players roll the dice and the person with the highest roll of the dice starts first. Everyone then takes it in turns going round clockwise, to roll the dice and move the corresponding number of spaces on the board. The aim is to get into a room. When you are in a room you can make your suggestion, for example “I think it was Professor Plum in the Kitchen with the Rope“. When you make your suggestion you must move the relevant pieces into the room you are suggesting. You put this theory to the person on your left. They then have to disprove it by showing you (only) one of the cards in you have suggested, so that you may tick it off your checklist. If he/she doesn’t have any of the 3 cards in your theory you move onto the next person along. If he/she has any of them he/she must show you only one. If a person puts a theory to you, you must always show a card if you have it, but you only have to show them one. You can make a suggestion including cards you have in your hand, in order to eliminate other cards. This is also a good way of bluffing the other players as to your line of inquiry! Eventually, you will be able to make a definite suggestion as to what the 3 cards in the envelope are. But the aim is to be the first to do it. As you can see the Clue game rules are very simple and so you can pick up how to play Cluedo game very quickly. You’ll find that it is an enjoyable game with many hours of fun.